Letter: Protecting online data is essential to growth

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The Business Council of New York State supports policies and regulations that spur investment in and the build out of high-speed broadband networks for the benefit of Western New York residents, businesses and visitors. The broadband ecosystem is a major contributor to the state’s economic growth and provides tremendous benefits and opportunities. Strong, uniform protection for consumers’ online data is something every New Yorker has a right to expect and is essential to the continued growth of our increasingly internet-dependent economy.

In a June 2 Another Voice, Assemblywoman Monica Wallace argued that the repeal of Federal Communications Commission privacy rules, which never actually went into effect, left consumers with very few protections in place.

That is hardly the case. Internet service providers in New York (and around the country) take seriously their commitment to protecting their subscribers’ private information. They do not sell their subscribers’ web browsing histories. Importantly, these companies have in place long-standing policies and practices that ensure compliance with federal and state privacy laws. These are policies that are also consistent with the Federal Trade Commission’s decades-old regulatory framework.

The FCC and the FTC have pledged to work together to achieve a fair and balanced regulatory privacy framework for the broadband industry to follow. The Business Council supports a regulatory environment that guards against government overreach and allows broadband providers to continue to contribute to the economies of Western New York and the state. This includes uniform and consistent privacy regulations that hold all entities across the broadband industry to the same high standards of privacy protections.